Robot cleaning system

ABSTRACT

A robot cleaning system having a general cleaning function using a cleaner and a cleaning robot charging function using a cleaning robot. The robot cleaning system includes a cleaner that performs manual cleaning while being moved by a user in an area to be cleaned and a charger to be connected to the cleaning robot that performs automatic cleaning, so as to charge a rechargeable battery mounted in the cleaning robot. A body of the cleaner has a space for receiving the cleaning robot when the cleaning robot returns to the cleaner for the sake of charging. A power terminal is provided at a surface of the body defining the receiving space to supply electric power to the cleaning robot.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No.2006-1920, filed on Jan. 6, 2006 in the Korean Intellectual PropertyOffice, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a robot cleaning system, and, moreparticularly, to a robot cleaning system having a cleaner for manualcleaning and a cleaning robot with a charger for charging the cleaningrobot that performs automatic cleaning.

2. Description of the Related Art

A cleaner is a device used for cleaning the room and is typically usedto remove dust, dirt, and debris in a room. Generally used is a vacuumcleaner for collecting dust and loose debris by a suction forcegenerated from a low-pressure unit. Recently, a cleaning robot, which isdesigned to remove dust and loose debris from the floor while moving onthe floor via self-traveling and without manual operation, has beendeveloped. Hereinafter, the term “automatic cleaning” refers to acleaning operation performed by a cleaning robot that removes dust andloose debris while moving by itself, whereas the term “manual cleaning”refers to a cleaning operation performed by a person using a vacuumcleaner.

The cleaning robot contains a rechargeable battery to supply electricpower required to drive the cleaning robot, and is combined with adocking station to form a single cleaning system. The docking station islocated at a specific place in a room and serves to charge the cleaningrobot.

In spite of an advantage that the cleaning robot can reduce the labor ofa person required for manual cleaning, the cleaning robot still hasseveral problems. The automatic cleaning function of the cleaning robotis limited to the floor The cleaning robot is not successful inautomatic cleaning in other areas, for example, the surface of a sofa,shelf, or the like, and therefore, has a limited cleaning area.Moreover, the cleaning robot is smaller than a general vacuum cleaner,and is unable to generate a strong suction force, resulting ininsufficient cleaning.

Due to the above-described problems of the cleaning robot, there stillexists a need for a person to manually clean specific places with ageneral vacuum cleaner rather than the cleaning robot. A cleaning robotcannot reach all places. Additionally, manual cleaning is preferred overa cleaning robot because a cleaning robot lacks adequate power tosufficiently clean all areas.

Accordingly, a cleaning operation using both automatic cleaning andmanual cleaning require the use of the cleaning robot, the dockingstation, and a general vacuum cleaner. This results in increased costsand reduces the amount of indoor space available.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forthin part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparentfrom the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

Therefore, the invention has been made in order to solve the aboveproblems, and it is an aspect of the invention to provide a robotcleaning system having both a general cleaning function using a cleanerand a cleaning robot charging function using a cleaning robot.

In accordance with one aspect, the invention provides a cleanerconfigured to perform manual cleaning while being moved by a user in anarea to be cleaned, including: a charger to be connected to a cleaningrobot that performs automatic cleaning, so as to charge a rechargeablebattery mounted in the cleaning robot.

The cleaner may further include a body having a space for receiving thecleaning robot when the cleaning robot returns to the cleaner for thesake of charging, and the charger may include a power terminal providedat an outer surface of the body to be connected to the cleaning robot.

The body may have a protruding portion, which protrudes forward todefine the cleaning robot receiving space therebelow.

The power terminal may be located at a lower surface of the protrudingportion.

In accordance with another aspect, the invention provides a cleanerconfigured to perform manual cleaning while being moved by a user in anarea to be cleaned, including: a body having a receiving space forreceiving a cleaning robot that performs automatic cleaning, the bodyincluding a power terminal mounted at a surface of the body defining thereceiving space to supply electric power to the cleaning robot when thecleaning robot is located in the receiving space.

The body may further include a protruding portion, which protrudesforward from an upper end of the body by a predetermined length todefine the receiving space therebelow.

The power terminal may be located at a lower surface of the protrudingportion.

Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forthin part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obviousfrom the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent and more readily appreciated from the following description ofthe embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, ofwhich:

FIG. 1 is a side view schematically showing the outer appearance of acleaner and cleaning robot that returns to the cleaner for charging inaccordance with the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing the inner configuration of thecleaner and cleaning robot of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiment of the invention,an example of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, whereinlike reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. Theembodiment is described below to explain the invention by referring tothe figures.

FIG. 1 is a side view schematically showing the outer appearance of acleaner and cleaning robot that returns to the cleaner for charging inaccordance with the invention. FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showingthe inner configuration of the cleaner and cleaning robot of FIG. 1.

Prior to explaining the configuration of a cleaner in accordance withthe invention, the configuration of a cleaning robot 10, which isdesigned to return to the cleaner when it needs to be charged duringautomatic cleaning, will be described in brief.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cleaning robot 10 includes a robot body 20, asuction device 30, a drive device 40, a controller 50, a recognizer (notshown), a rechargeable battery 60, and a battery charge level detector70.

The suction device 30 is used to vacuum and collect dust and loosedebris, and includes a brush 31, a suction pipe 32, a dust collector 33,and a blower 34. The drive device 40 enables self-traveling of thecleaning robot 10, and includes a driving wheel 41, a driven wheel 42,and a drive motor (not shown) to rotate the driving wheel 41. Therecognizer (not shown) includes an obstacle detection sensor, atraveling distance detection sensor, and a camera, and serves to allowthe cleaning robot 10 to perform efficient cleaning, traveling, andreturning operations. The rechargeable battery 60 has a chargingterminal 61 protruding out of the robot body 20, such that it is chargedby a commercial alternator when the cleaning robot 10 is connected to acleaner 100 in accordance with the invention. The battery charge leveldetector 70 is used to detect a charge level of the rechargeable battery60 when the cleaning robot 10 returns to the cleaner 100. If thedetected charge level reaches a preset lowest level, the detector 70sends a charge request signal to the controller 50.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cleaner 100 in accordance with theinvention includes a body 110 in which a variety of elements aremounted, a suction piece 120 to vacuum dust and loose debris from thefloor B, and a connection pipe 130 to connect the body 110 to thesuction piece 120, to allow a suction force, generated by the body 110,to be transferred to the suction piece 120.

The connection pipe 130 includes a suction hose 131 and a suction pipe132. A handle 133 is interposed between the suction hose 131 and thesuction pipe 132. The handle 133 is provided with a variety of buttonsto enable easy manipulation. The suction hose 131 is a flexible wrinkledhose having a first end connected to the handle 133 and a second endconnected to the body 110. The suction pipe 132 has a first endconnected to the suction piece 120 and a second end connected to thehandle 133. With this arrangement, a user is able to perform manualcleaning to remove dust and loose debris from the floor while movingfreely in a standing posture.

The body 110 contains a blowing device 111 to provide a suction forcerequired to vacuum dust and loose debris during manual cleaning, and adust collector 112 to store dust and debris vacuumed. The dust collector112 may be a dust envelope, or cyclone dust collector that is widelyused. Although not shown, the blowing device 111 includes a suctionmotor, and a fan to be rotated by the suction motor.

In particular, the cleaner 100 in accordance with the invention isdesigned to serve as a docking station for charging the rechargeablebattery 60 mounted in the cleaning robot 10 that performs automaticcleaning. Accordingly, there is no need for a separate docking stationfor the cleaning robot 10 that performs automatic cleaning. Thisprevents an increase in the number of cleaning devices. The inventionreduces costs and the space needed to store and operate the cleaningdevices.

To serve as a docking station, the body 110 of the robot cleaning system100 in accordance with the invention is configured to have a space S,which is utilized to house the cleaning robot 10 when the cleaning robot10 returns to the robot cleaning system 100 for the sake of charging.Also, the body 110 contains a charger 140 to charge the rechargeablebattery 60 of the cleaning robot 10. The body 110 may have an internalshape selected from among a variety of shapes suitable to receive thecleaning robot 10. In one embodiment, the body 110 may have a protrudingportion 113 that protrudes forward by a predetermined length to definethe receiving space S therebelow.

The charger 140 has a power terminal 141 provided at an outer surface ofthe body 110. The lower terminal 41 is positioned to be connected to thecharging terminal 61 of the cleaning robot 10 when the cleaning robot 10returns to the cleaner 100. Specifically, the power terminal 141 may belocated at a lower surface 113a of the protruding portion 113.

The power terminal 141 is connected to a power cord 150 via an internaltransformer and power cable, such that it supplies power to therechargeable battery 60 as it is connected to the charging terminal 61of the cleaning robot 10. The power cord 150 is connected to an externalcommercial alternator when the cleaner 100 serves to charge the cleaningrobot 10.

Hereinafter, the operation of the cleaning robot and cleaner associatedwith the subject of the invention will be explained with reference tothe accompanying drawings. In an initial state, the power cord 150 ofthe cleaner 100 is connected to the external commercial alternator.Also, the cleaning robot 10 is received in the receiving space S that isdefined below the protruding portion 113 of the body 110 of the cleaner100, such that the charging terminal 61 is in a waiting state whilebeing connected to the power terminal 141 of the cleaner 100. Then, if asignal for directing a cleaning operation is transmitted to the cleaningrobot 10, the cleaning robot 10 acts to remove dust and loose debrisfrom the floor while moving by itself in an area to be cleaned.

During the automatic cleaning, the battery charge level detector 70 ofthe cleaning robot 10 checks the rechargeable battery 60 periodically,so as to send a charge request signal to the controller 50 when therechargeable battery 60 needs to be charged. If the charge requestsignal is transmitted to the controller 50, the controller 50 controlsthe drive device 40 to cause the cleaning robot 10 to return to thereceiving space S of the cleaner 100. In this case, the recognizer (notshown) acts to collect a variety of information and to send theinformation to the controller 50, in order to guide the cleaning robot10 to a predetermined position. After the cleaning robot 10 returns tothe receiving space S, the charging terminal 61 of the cleaning robot 10is connected to the power terminal 141 that is connected to an externalpower source via the power cord 150. Thereby, the external power sourcesupplies electric power to charge the rechargeable battery 60 of thecleaning robot 10.

Meanwhile, to perform manual cleaning, after the cleaning robot 10 isseparated from the cleaner 100, the cleaner 100 is moved and steered bya user to remove dust and loose debris from the floor through thesuction piece 120.

As apparent from the above description, the invention provides a cleanerhaving both a general cleaning function and a cleaning robot chargingfunction. Such a dual function cleaner has the effect of improvingeffectiveness of both automatic and manual cleaning devices thereof.Accordingly, as compared to the conventional case wherein a plurality ofdevices required to perform both automatic cleaning and manual cleaningmust be prepared, a reduced economic burden and improved space utilitycan be accomplished.

Although an embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, itwould be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may bemade in this embodiment without departing from the principles and spiritof the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and theirequivalents.

1. A robot cleaning system, comprising: a cleaner that performs manualcleaning while being moved by a user in an area to be cleaned; and acharger to be connected to a cleaning robot that performs automaticcleaning, so as to charge a rechargeable battery mounted in the cleaningrobot.
 2. The robot cleaning system according to claim 1, furthercomprising: a body having a space for receiving the cleaning robot whenthe cleaning robot returns to the cleaner for charging, wherein thecharger includes a power terminal provided at an outer surface of thebody to be connected to the cleaning robot.
 3. The robot cleaning systemaccording to claim 2, wherein the body has a protruding portion, whichprotrudes forward to define the cleaning robot receiving spacetherebelow.
 4. The robot cleaning system according to claim 3, whereinthe power terminal is located at a lower surface of the protrudingportion.
 5. A cleaner configured to perform manual cleaning while beingmoved by a user in an area to be cleaned, comprising: a body having areceiving space receiving a cleaning robot that performs automaticcleaning, the body including a power terminal mounted at a surface ofthe body defining the receiving space to supply electric power to thecleaning robot when the cleaning robot is located in the receivingspace.
 6. The cleaner according to claim 5, wherein the body furthercomprises: a protruding portion, which protrudes forward from an upperend of the body by a predetermined length to define the receiving spacetherebelow.
 7. The cleaner according to claim 6, wherein the powerterminal is located at a lower surface of the protruding portion.
 8. Therobot cleaning system according to claim 2, wherein the body of thecleaning robot is coupled to the cleaner to perform manual cleaning andautomatic cleaning simultaneously.
 9. The cleaner according to claim 5,wherein the cleaning robot further comprises: a battery charge leveldetector detecting a charge level of a rechargeable battery andtransmitting a charge request signal; and a controller receiving thecharge request signal indicating a charge level of the rechargeablebattery.
 10. The cleaner according to claim 9, wherein the controllercontrols a drive device to drive the cleaning robot to the receivingspace when the transmitted charge request signal indicates that thecharge level is insufficient.